On Nov. 6, Oswego State announced the induction of seven former athletes to its hall of fame, the 20th hall of fame class for the university’s athletic department.
The inductees this year included John “Jack” Michalec, Patrick Wittekind, Jill (Reimer) Halpin, Jamie (Clough) Drifill, Derek Popovich, Scott Ferguson and Tenkoran Agyeman.
Michalec, who graduated in 1968, is the only two-sport athlete on the list, playing men’s soccer in the fall and baseball during the spring as a Laker. 1966 was his most successful season as a Laker, having a part in both the soccer and baseball teams winning SUNYAC Championship titles. The following year, Michalec rose to be the captain of both teams. Michalec drove in 28 runs during his three seasons on the baseball team, and he was First Team All-SUNYAC in 1966 as a defenseman with the soccer team.
Wittekind (1985) and Agyeman (2007), the two wrestlers in the class, combined for four All-American honors, Wittekind in 1984 at 134 pounds and Agyeman from 2005 to 2007 at 133 pounds twice and 141 pounds once.
Wittekind was a three-year member of the wrestling team, transferring from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. He finished his career 49-22 on the mat including qualifying for nationals in 1984. He went on to finish fifth nationally for the 134-pound class. This followed a third-place finish at the 1984 New York State Championships, a meet that features wrestlers across all three divisions of collegiate wrestling.
Agyeman is one of the most decorated athletes in the history of Oswego State athletics with three All-American honors. He went on to finish with a record of 118-25 at Oswego State, joining Doug Morse and Dave Parisi as the only three-time All-Americans in the program’s history. Agyeman won the New York State Championship in 2004. From 2005 to 2007, he finished the seasons ranked sixth, fourth and seventh in the nation, respectively.
Drifill, who graduated in 2000, is the leading scorer in the history of women’s basketball at Oswego State. Her 1,718 career points were accomplished over four First Team All-SUNYAC seasons. Drifill, who went by her maiden name of Clough during her collegiate career, was known for being a threat to score over 30 points in any game, holding four of the Top-10 individual game scoring performances in program history.
Popovich, a 2004 graduate, holds the second-highest point total in the history of men’s soccer at Oswego State with 92 points. Popovich netted 38 goals over his four seasons at Oswego State, adding 16 assists. In 2000, he was named Third Team All-State and was a member of the All-SUNYAC Team. Of his three All-SUNYAC Team appearances, one was First Team and two were Second Team.
Halpin (1997), going by her maiden name of Reimer at the time, owned the SUNYAC diving board in 1996 and 1997. She went on to be SUNYAC Diver of the Year both of those seasons, winning the end of the season award after combining for three individual SUNYAC titles between the two seasons. In 1996, Halpin won the SUNYAC Championship for both the 1-meter and 3-meter. She repeated in the 3-meter the following season. She graduated as the Oswego State record holder for both events.
Ferguson, a 2006 graduate and the lone lacrosse player on the list, was an All-American for the men’s lacrosse team during his tenure at Oswego State. He tied the single-season mark for points by an Oswego State midfielder twice with 52. Overall, he ended up the all-time leader in goals at Oswego State with 147. He’s third in career points with 183. Ferguson was Second Team All-SUNYAC in 2002 and followed that with First Team appearances in 2003 and 2004.
A ceremony for all seven inductees will be determined at a later date, according to the Oswego State Athletic Department.
Graphic provided by Oswego State Athletics Department
